New Things and Critters

Sometimes when I go to the store with Kim I feel inclined to Try New Things. This last trip I was in a bit of a whimsical mood, so I put a New Thing in the cart when she wasn't looking (though she found it later and just gave me an odd look).



I didn't know what Navy Beans were, or how the tasted (thus it is really a New Thing), but I figured somebody must buy them, or they wouldn't be at the store. Right?

Today, while Kim was at work, I tried my New Thing.



And you know what? They were really pretty good. I think they'd be especially good with some saltines. (Navy Beans and saltines. Yar har! And a bottle of rum, matey!) They're somewhere in between chili and chicken noodles soup. I could even go so far as to hesitantly recommend them. I might try the Navy Beans without bacon and Jalapeno, but I'll wait at least a week first.


Yesterday at work I was out taking pictures of concrete so I could capture some good textures for planet building. Right there in the primo parking spot, catching some rays, was this fellow:



At first we weren't sure if he was dead or not, because he didn't move when an ant crawled over his head. But when I started playing Steve Irwin and caught his neck with the crook at the end of a long stick, we found out pretty quickly how not dead he was. I don't think he was a venomous snake, but since he was in that strike pose, I figured I wouldn't take a chance. We herded him out of the primo parking space (after all, he didn't have any seniority) and into a bush.



This little chipmunk is one of Kim's favorites. He runs around the porch, stuffing his cheeks full of sunflower seeds and corn that Kim leaves out for the squirrels. He's a lot more elusive than the squirrels, though - this was the best shot I've ever gotten of him.



Lastly, this fellow seems to have come in with a rose I clipped for Kim. I couldn't find him in Bugguide.net, but I think he's some kind of adolescent grasshopper or katydid. Maybe Dad would know? He was an aggressive little tyke, anyway. After I took a few pictures of him, he started moving toward me, like he was ranging me. I left him alone on the kitchen counter for awhile, then came in to cook some Navy Beans. He lept right at me. Sadly, he fell to the floor and Jenny snuffled him up.